Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Northwest Arkansas Council names CEO
New leader Peacock a native of state
SPRINGDALE — An Arkansas native with government experience in Washington, D.C., and California will return home to head the Northwest Arkansas Council, the group announced Tuesday.
Nelson Peacock, 47, works as senior vice president for government relations for the University of California system and will take on the post of the council’s CEO and president next month, he said at a brief news conference. The council is a nonprofit group of civic and business leaders encouraging healthy economic growth and higher quality of life for the region.
Peacock, who earned a doctorate in law from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, said he hopes to strengthen the council’s relationships with the area’s city and county governments and continue its work to develop the region’s workforce.
The council in some ways acts as a regional chamber of commerce, keeping a finger on the local economy’s pulse and working to attract new residents and employers to the area.
“I am looking forward to building on the region’s excellent track record of success,” Peacock said, adding Tuesday he sees his new position “as a public service job.”
The announcement comes as the region’s population and economic activity reach new heights. Northwest Arkansas’ unemployment, near 2 percent, has made finding enough skilled workers a challenge for several industries even as the metropolitan area grows faster than all but 21 others in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The area’s population boomed from around 200,000 when the council started in 1990 to 525,000 last year.
The council, Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission and other groups in the past several decades have helped the region’s cities and counties band together to tackle the infrastructure, health care, workforce and other needs that come with such explosive growth. Its original members included Sam Walton, Don Tyson and J.B. Hunt.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and Interstate 49 through the metro area exist at least partly because of the council’s advocacy, for example. The group also holds annual business surveys, supports the University of Arkansas’ reports on the local economy and holds events such as last year’s Health Care Summit that explored ways to fill more and more health jobs.
Peacock is the council’s
third official president and CEO, after state Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, and Mike Malone. Mike Harvey, the council’s chief operating officer, held the post on an interim basis after Malone took a job at Runway Group in Bentonville last year.
Peacock was born in Fayetteville and grew up in McCrory, a small town northeast of Little Rock, but he has gone from coast to coast for work.
He led the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s work with Congress on counterterrorism, immigration and other issues mainly during President Barack Obama’s first term, according to the department and Peacock’s LinkedIn page. Before that, he advised then-Sen. Joe Biden in the senator’s work on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Peacock became vice president of the private lobbying firm Cornerstone Government Affairs in 2013 and stayed there a year before joining the University of California, where he’s in charge of all state and federal relations for the multibillion- dollar state university system. The system’s president, Janet Napolitano, was Obama’s first Secretary of Homeland Security.
Dianne Klein, the university’s press secretary, said Peacock worked hard to improve its relationship with state government, helping to increase its budget for economic development efforts.
“We are going to miss him here,” she wrote in an email. “This is a win for Arkansas.”
Peacock said he’s coming back to Arkansas because “it’s home,” calling it a good place to raise his two daughters with his wife, Susan. He also praised the interconnectedness and common goals of the state’s northwest corner.
“All that kind of comes together,” he said. “There’s a lot of positive energy that comes out of here.”
Nick Hobbs, president of J.B. Hunt’s dedicated contract services, led the council’s nationwide search for a new CEO and said Peacock brings political acumen, experience and leadership ability.
“We like to think we took our time and got it right,” added Scott Van Laningham, a council member and regional airport CEO.
Peacock is the council’s third official president and CEO, after state Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, and Mike Malone. Mike Harvey, the council’s chief operating officer, held the post on an interim basis.